Pads for use on horses are well known in the equestrian world. These pads are used to prevent chafing and scraping of the saddle against the body, and particularly the back of the horse. Standard or conventional pads may be made of wool or synthetic fibers. Oftentimes they include a pocket for the receipt of saddle flaps, again to prevent chafing of the horse. They are available in a multiplicity of shapes from a plurality of vendors. Generally one buys a pad to match the contour of the saddle. Thus one would not use a pad for an English-type saddle with a western saddle.
Attempts have been made to improve the padding used beneath saddles. One such improved pad is known as the EquiGuard.TM., it is a supplementary pad and which is used in conjunction with a Sherpa-Fleece pad and is sold by Libertyville Saddle Shop of Libertyville, Ill. This supplement employs a layer of foam that externally mounts atop the pad. This combination device does little or nothing to prevent the shock from the rider's movements from reaching the horse.
Another saddle pad known to applicant is marketed under the name Flow-Fit by High Horse of P.O. Box 11212 Reno, Nev. This unit comprises an enclosure configured like a tilted pear-shaped slice having a single closeable opening across the front with a pair of spaced opposed mirror image foam members placed within a single enclosure. Numerous problems arise from the use of this pad. Firstly, the two foam pieces often try to override each other since they are confined to immediately adjacent enclosures separated only by a thin seam. The design is not related to either the shape of the horse or the shape of a saddle. While the foam used therein has some shock absorbency, the overall design and construction of the unit causes the foam to quickly deteriorate.
There is a need for a horse pad that will allow the horse's back to breath and which will readily and repeatedly absorb the impact from the rider's movement without rapid deterioration of the impact absorbing material.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved foam receiving envelope pad for use beneath a horse saddle.
It is another object of this invention to provide a foam receiving envelope pad that permits air to reach and moisture to escape from the horse's back.
Yet another object is to provide a foam receiving envelope pad that is integrated into a conventional saddle pad.
These and other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.
The invention accordingly comprises the product possessing the features, properties and the relation of components which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.